Frodo's Cloak and other broken cards

[Hobbit_Pizza]

So according to Comp Rules, Ring-Bearer skirmishes cannot be cancelled. Frodo's Cloak is designed to do just this. It says at towers sites only, and frodo specifically. It would work if Frodo wasn't the Ring-Bearer, but the Comp Rules also say that no version of Frodo containing the words "Ring-Bearer" can be played if someone else is the Ring-Bearer. Since all versions of Frodo from towers block say "Ring-Bearer" then there's no way to use Frodo's Cloak to cancel skirmishes involving Frodo at all. How stupid as that is the whole point of the card.

What the gay?!

I know this is old news, but I'm curious if anyone else can add light to the confusion that is caused by the Comp Rules such as the Black Hole I just described. Any other broken cards that fall victim to this or similar rulings, please share.

[MR. Lurtzy]

You were allowed to cancel Frodo's skirmish when that card came out, so it did have a use back then.

[TheJord]

O Elbereth! Githoniel! also lost one of its uses.

Frenzy of Arrows got errata'd so bad now its useless.

[DáinIronfoot]

It was up until King Block or Shadows (can't remember which now ) that you COULD cancel the Ring-bearer's skirmish, so Frodo's Cloak and O Elbereth! Githoniel! used to work just fine. Others like Hobbit Intuition and Curse Them and Swiftly and Softly used to be handy ways to cancel the Ring-bearer's skirmish as well. I suppose they still do within the bounds of their respective blocks.

When WAS that change made? Anyone remember?

[Kralik]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the change was made when alternative Ring-Bearer were released (ie Reflections). You should still be able to cancel the RB's (Frodo's) skirmish in Fellowship/Towers Blocks. Hobbit Stealth is a favorite get-out-of-Balrog-free card.

[FM]

I'm more of a Proper Poet cancel-two-skirmishes-for-the-price-of-one type of guy, this would annoy my friend like #$&*@!, when he managed to get his combo out and dish out, mainly due to Troll's Keyward, Cave Troll with Chain and Hammer, plus Flame of Udun with Sword. 2 exertions, 2 events and bye-bye meanies. That's the very concept of "card advantage" being applied to LotR right there!

[Thranduil]

I think it was around Reflections as well when this change was made. This is why O Elbereth Gilthoniel! was on the X-list, but after skirmishes involving the Ring-bearer could no longer be cancelled, it was taken off.

Thranduil

[leokula]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the change was made when alternative Ring-Bearer were released (ie Reflections). You should still be able to cancel the RB's (Frodo's) skirmish in Fellowship/Towers Blocks. Hobbit Stealth is a favorite get-out-of-Balrog-free card.

You're absolutely right. Boromir's Gauntlets, Curse them and Voice of Nimrodel being the main reasons to the rule change.

[Pepin The Breve]

   I must say that you can´t cancel skirmishes with RB no matter what block you are playing. If you could everyone would run decks with archery protection + skirmish canceling and that would be very hard to counter.

   I´m not sure either but i think the change was made even before reflections release.

[leokula]

   I must say that you can´t cancel skirmishes with RB no matter what block you are playing. If you could everyone would run decks with archery protection + skirmish canceling and that would be very hard to counter.

It was indeed made when reflections came out. If you were an active player before reflections, you'd know 

[Pepin The Breve]

   Well, i was an active player by that time (or sort of). Maybe just my memory sucks. But i have some strange feeling that since RoTK you can´t cancel skirmish with RB...

  Ah, nevermind.

[Hobbit_Pizza]

I suppose they still do within the bounds of their respective blocks.

But do they?

[Malachi]

What I especially love in LOTR TCG is that thanks to its multiple formats no card is ever completely banned from play - you can still play them all in their respective blocks, even if restricted. If a card becomes useless in Standart with the release of the new sets, it can still have its value in its Block. So, while in other games a card can become a non-playable dirt, LOTR still allows them in block format. I guess this is the reason I love the block format more than standard and expanded. Anybody can choose what he wants - under-powered block format, which is fun, average standart or expanded, which is different but fun, or over-powered open, which can be fun as well.

So, IMHO there's no need to errata LR or HTTWC, but cards like Frenzy of Arrows still have to be dealt with.

[Hobbit_Pizza]

Does it specify anywhere that rules like this don't apply to Block Formats? I did a Towers Booster Draft the other day and couldn't use Severed his Bonds on Frodo because of the Comp Rules.

[Kralik]

I suppose it may be officially against the rules, but seeing that cards were made specifically to cancel Frodo's skirmishes before there were alternate RB's makes me want to play with them the way they were designed. Playing Fellowship/Towers is like going back in time to the golden days of LotR... why should rules introduced later to fix cards introduced later affect those blocks?

[FM]

Unfortunately, since the rules changed IN GENERAL, either they had to issue errata to every card made useless, or they won't work. O Elbereth! still has other uses, but Frodo's Cloak unfortunately got the axe, and D itself also got it before errata'ing the cards.